Page 52 of Wolf’s Fated Bride

I take a deep breath and clench my teeth as I exhale lest I spit fire at him like a dragon. Dragons don’t exist. Unless I turn into one.

Blade smirks as he takes a sip of his ale.

He’s baiting me. He wants me to admit that I’m attracted to Runa. But I’m not saying a damn thing. He knows she’s the little wolf who proved resistant to fire, and that’s all he needs to know for now. Since the Council developed an interest in her, I’m even more determined to protect her from them.

They can’t touch her. They can look at her from a distance of at least ten feet.

“I wonder where she is,” Blade says.

I bite my tongue. A copper taste coats my mouth, and I swallow it down, wondering what would happen if I punched Blade in the nose. His nose would break, which would be satisfying, but the loss of my temper would set off a sequence of events that would result in massive casualties in the castle.

Some wolves are already shifting, leaving the party to roam the hallways.

Sören comes in, spots us, and walks over. “There’s an indoor rugby field if you want to play.”

“I’ll play,” Blade says.

“Me too. Let’s go.”

As I pass him, Sören places a hand on my chest. “Maren nested.”

I stare at his fingers, fantasizing about breaking them. “I’m aware.”

He drops his hand. “Don’t be late to visit her. With you around, the fire moon is very painful to the unmated omegas in the pack.”

“So service them,” I tell him.

“You’re missing the point,” Blade says. “Your presence here isn’t wanted. Get lost in the nest and don’t come back until dawn.”

“What are you? His interpreter?”

Blade shrugs. “You weren’t getting the clue.”

I spot the Stormcrest Alpha making his way over to us. “Good luck with the game,” I say, then leave to intercept the Alpha.

“I thought you might be here,” he says by way of greeting while handing me a basket. It’s customary for the parents of an omega to prepare a basket for the male who will enter their daughter’s nest. The chosen male can’t very well enter the nest without providing necessary nourishment for the night. It’s not how courting an omega works.

Dutifully, I accept the basket, gloating at the fact that they have no idea the Regulator is balls-deep in their daughter’s pussy. The basket he handed me could only be for his youngest daughter, the one neither he nor his wife wants to give up.

They’re set on Runa staying as the keeper of the Stormcrest omega line. That makes her even more appealing to me. I want to take their prized possession.

That’s if I can find the hole Runa crawled into and nested in. She knows the terrain better than I do.

“Don’t let me stop you from going to the nest now,” he tells me.

“I won’t, don’t worry.”

He locks eyes with me. “You’re a prick, you know that? I don’t like you, but for the good of our people, I have to make peace with my enemy.”

“I’m not your enemy.”

The Alpha laughs. “We’ve been at war since you came of age. I’d say that makes us enemies.”

“I have no bone to pick with you. You chose to protect the humans. You could’ve said no when they came to you.”

“They would have destroyed my pack.”

“I’d have protected you.”